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Commemoration of the 2023 World Day Against Child Labour. Theme: 'Social Justice for All. End Child Labour!

KAMPALA - Uganda joined other countries around the world to commemorate the World Day Against Child Labour under the theme “Social justice for all: End child labour!” in an event that took place at Sheraton hotel on 12 June 2023. This comes after a survey report published by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in 2022, that indicates a rapid increase in child labour cases within the country.

Ms Beatrice Aciro, the Deputy Chair, of the Central Organization of Free Trade Unions (COFTU), while addressing participants during the WDACL 2023 event, said that the interventions of withdrawing children from child labour seem not to address the problems facing their families hence the need for alternative realistic support.

“In the different parts of Uganda, parents and children working in gold mines, and stone quarries acknowledge the work as hazardous but they view it as a necessary response to extreme poverty. On the other hand, children may be better off accompanying their parents than being left alone at home and in the long run get used and think it’s a good job since their parents are paid for it whereas it is not,” she said. She called for an urgent need for measures to reduce poverty and provide safety nets for children living with families facing a crisis.

Indeed, the Uganda national labour survey, which was launched in November 2022, reveals a sharp rise in the rate of child labour. The numbers of children engaged in labour has taken a sharp rise in Uganda from 2,048,000 children constituting a total of 14% of all Ugandan children in 2018 (UBOS, 2018:152) to 6.2 million constituting a total of 40% Ugandan children aged 5 - 17 years (UBOS, 2021:188). Evidence reveals that, while child labour reduced among children aged 12-13 years from 27% in 2018 to 16 percent in 2021, it has raised among the youngest cohort of 5 -11 years from 55% in 2018 to 58% in 2021.

UNICEF Uganda Country representative Mr Munir A Safieldin expressed the need for additional resources and commitments from government, development partners, and civil society organizations to combat rising cases of child labour.

“At the moment, to address child labour in a very clear way requires resources. Resources are needed for the social sector. Unfortunately, in the current budget debate, the budget for the social sector reduced. It is not good news for any one of us. It is not good news for the education sector. It is not good news for the health sector, and definitely not good news for the Ministry of Gender. Many cuts are happening now even for the essential stuff that the Ministry needs to follow up on many issues including child labour,” Mr Munir said during WDACL celebrations at Sheraton hotel.

“I had a meeting with the budget committee in Parliament. They have been saying it’s a bit late to make changes in the budget but I think there is still an opportunity to make sure that even if it’s not today, during the course of the year, more money will be allocated to the social sector, otherwise, without resources we cannot combat child labour,” he added.

The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Mr Aggrey Kibenge said the government is thinking of strengthening policies related to education like both Universal Primary and Secondary Education to ensure that all school-going children attend and remain in schools to prevent child labour.

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